The document outlines the restructuring of a customer service department in Turkey to better serve global customers. The department originally only served local customers with small support staff, but as production moved to Turkey, global support was needed. A new manager conducted audits, identified issues like uneven workloads and lack of structure, created a strategic plan with KPIs and job descriptions, and implemented a restructure over 3 months. This included training, performance reviews, process standardization, and improved internal and external collaboration. The results were improved service levels, on-time delivery, fewer complaints, and reduced customer contacts.

2. Setting the scene…..
Remit – to create an effective world-class customer service function in
Turkey, capable of providing support to global customers
Background
The site was originally a manufacturing base for local customers only with a small supporting
Customer Service department.
As more companies brought production back closer to the EU, Turkey became well placed to
offer a cost-effective production solution. The focus therefore changed; it became critical to
have a team who could provide high quality Customer Service support on a global level.
The scope
We work with over 80 European and Global Retailers (well known brands in Retail,
Fashion and Supermarket chains).
We provide day-to-day support to over 2,000 manufacturers.
We process a average of over 15,000 lines of product per month. Some of these lines are
processed more than once, to create the order for production and then for invoicing,
using a range of systems.
The help-desk team of 4 deal with more than 1500 emails daily and approximately 400
calls.
We started as a team of 9 and are now 12.

3. Scenario 28 months ago….
There was a department providing daily service support to over 80 global
retailer’s customer base (circa about 2000 companies):-
The account managers/service support only knew about their own
accounts/tasks/roles – no holiday cover, no succession planning, no structure, no
team
There was an uneven distribution of work, some people were swamped, others
were doing very little
Everyone was self taught so they all had the same knowledge but also all the same
bad habits (including incorrect order processing)
There were systems in place but they were not ‘smart’ working and there was no
consistency in approach. No ownership whatsoever. A really healthy ‘blame’
culture existed
There was no management of the individual/department – no performance
indicators or targets to work towards, no training and development opportunities
The Customer Service department was seen as unimportant in relation to other
functions within the group
No one ever made any decisions or tried to solve any problems, therefore they were
simply perpetuated (this across the board, not just in the department)
There was very low morale, high staff turnover
Customers were extremely demanding to the point of abusive
Each department worked in isolation, there was no synergy.
….a case study

4. Some of the things I did as a start point:-
Conducted a full audit of the systems and processes, spent time with each person,
getting to know them, their strengths, their concerns, and their views. I also spent
time within each of the departments understanding their workflow, their expectations
of the Customer Service Department
Spent time with our other ‘internal customers’ for example the other global sites, with
key staff who worked with the team on a regular basis
Visited several key external customers to find out what they thought we did well;
what we could improve on
The audit highlighted what was working well, where there were problems and gaps both
within the department and between departments, this formed the basis of a strategic
plan moving forward
Shared my findings within the department, asked for more feedback – they
participated in a SWOT workshop to again share their perspective but as a group this
time
Created a working plan, identified key objectives, tasks, key deliverables etc
Shared my findings with the other senior managers, requested support and buy-in for
the proposed plan, kept them updated, included and informed
The plan was then implemented. Commencing with a launch in the department. The
proposed roll-out was carried out in a staged approach to maintain consistency and to
allow for full support to be given in roles which were changing dramatically. In this
instance it involved the complete restructure of the department and several new roles
were created.
The restructure was completed a month ahead of schedule and took about 3 months
of hard work to bed in. Restructure month 4/5 – first phase bedded in month 8.

5. Some of the fine detail….
Just to note some of the critical elements of the restructure within the department:-
Key performance indicators for Customer Service targets were identified
Task analysis of what was required to achieve above targets outlined
Clear ‘standards based’ job descriptions were drafted, based on tasks identified. These
were discussed in detail and then agreed by the individual/department – these included
specific performance indicators relevant to their role – these then fed upwards to inform
department goals/plans – overall site objectives (and back down again)
Weekly team meetings and regular one on one sessions commenced to include every
person in the department with the Customer Service Manager, these have been kept
consistent in a flat structure with an ‘open door’ approach
A full training needs analysis was carried out for the individual/team and implemented,
this included finding in-department champions to pass on their knowledge, team building
exercises, problem solving workshops, review of processes etc
Part of the training aim was to ‘multi-task’ so the expertise was shared, particularly
with key accounts so each person had a ‘buddy’ or ‘mentor’ appointed to cover for
each other, Team Leaders appointed and developed
Each team member was also introduced to an appraisal process carried out every 6
months and using a 360 degree approach
A shared customer contact system was implemented
We put in place effective systems to get customer feedback to inform the process
Standardising of the complaints process in line with quality systems.

6. Over the last few months:-
The emerging team began to participate in creating improved working systems
and processes. Identifying ways of dealing with shared problems (dealing with
aggressive customers as an example) and coming up with their own solutions
which were then put in to practice with full support
Clear workflow processes were outlined and used as working documents (this has
included critical value stream mapping where customer service ‘touch’ other
departments)
Identifying the needs of the internal customer was part of the process, this has
included building an understanding that ‘other departments’ are often a customer
(more and more prevalent with our global perspective)
Implementing an effective feedback and communications strategy with all customers
to survey how well we are performing
Implementing regular ‘cross-department’ meetings to discuss shared issues,
improvement plans for key customers, building of understanding between the
departments – this has included job swaps and mentoring to help each department
fully understand what each other does
Creating fresh challenges for the individuals within the teams, to keep them
interested and motivated – including succession planning and career path
development
Fully supporting all aspects of the individual’s job role, clarity now exists and they
are therefore empowered to produce the results and accountable for achieving
goals.

7. Some of the results:
Percentage improvement in overall service levels on annual
surveys with internal and external customers
Improved performance results in delivery deadlines, dramatically
reduced customer complaints (those we do have are normally
product quality related rather than about lack of contact/attitude
of staff) – these under 0.05 % against total order lines processed
An overall reduction of customer contact for phone calls and
emails. This because of a more pro-active approach to
information providing, negating the need for the customer to get
in touch
We did so well in key areas that we inherited a number of critical
tasks, such as the Order processing and Customer Helpdesk, from
other global sites. This we have been able to plan for without
exponential headcount in spite of a 35% increase in tasks. This
because of smarter, better organised working practices.
In summary, there is stability, motivation, and a happy
team performing to plan.